Colchester, England

Best weekend slot

Saturday 8am–8pm

Verdict: Good

rain earlier today, ground firm

Next mow

Today 8am–2pm

Verdict: Good

no rain since Monday, ground firm

The next 10 days

Column height is how mowable the day is; the lighter band is the best stretch within it. The line is soil temperature at 6cm.

9°C — seeding

Soil at 6cm 17.3°C cooling to 15.3°C

Wednesday 2 September · 8am–2pmConfident

8am–2pm — no rain since Monday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryno rain since Monday
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm22mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
Good:Temperature: Temperature16°C
Good:Wind: Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Thursday 3 September · 8am–8pmConfident

8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm20mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
Good:Temperature: Temperature19°C
Good:Wind: Wind light15 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Friday 4 September · 5pm–8pmConfident

5pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm9mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
Good:Temperature: Temperature20°C
Good:Wind: Wind light18 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:wind

Saturday 5 September · 8am–8pmConfident

8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm10mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.92
Good:Temperature: Temperature14°C
Good:Wind: Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Sunday 6 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident

10am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm3mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
Good:Temperature: Temperature18°C
Good:Wind: Wind light12 km/h
Sociable hours: Fine by the neighboursstarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Monday 7 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident

8am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm3mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
Good:Temperature: Temperature15°C
Good:Wind: Wind light18 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September · 8am–2pmReasonably confident

8am–2pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Marginal:Grass wetness: Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm2mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.78
Good:Temperature: Temperature15°C
Good:Wind: Wind light15 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Wednesday 9 September · 2pm–8pmReasonably confident

2pm–8pm — ground firm — 17mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness: Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm17mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.56
Good:Temperature: Temperature13°C
Marginal:Wind: Wind light20 km/h
Sociable hours: Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Thursday 10 September · 8am–8pmLow confidence this far out

8am–8pm — growing steadily — growth potential 0.36

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm21mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.36
Good:Temperature: Temperature10°C
Good:Wind: Wind light9 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:growth

Friday 11 September · 8am–8pmLow confidence this far out

8am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness: Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness: Ground firm21mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth: Growing wellgrowth potential 0.50
Good:Temperature: Temperature10°C
Good:Wind: Wind light1 km/h
Sociable hours: A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:none

Soil temperature

16.2°C61°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.2°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

Almost every UK and Irish lawn is a ryegrass and fescue mix, whether it was sown or turfed. We assume that, and use9°C as the seeding threshold.

I know what grass I have

The differences are small. Ryegrass is the quickest off the mark; bluegrass is the slowest and wants the warmest soil. Everything else sits between.

Soil temperature at 6cm for reliable germination. Sources onthe method page.
Species	Soil temp	Days
Perennial ryegrasslikely yours	8°C	5–10
Red / chewings fescuelikely yours	8–10°C	10–14
Tall fescue	10–12°C	10–14
Browntop bentColonial bentgrass	10–12°C	14–21
Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrass	12–13°C	14–28

What this means right now

Good: Seeding window open
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.2°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.
Read more
Warning: Heat stress
Sunday 6 September gets hot enough to stress the sward. Mow early or late, and raise the height.

Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.

Best weekend slot

Next mow

The next 10 days

Soil temperature

What this means right now

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